Reconcile this
by naire37
Summary: Post 3-24, spoilers. You think we'd get a beautiful romantic scene right after? Riiiight. Here's how I think it would go, with everyone's perfect timing.
1. Freeze

Chloe stumbles, shifts back, ready to run, to cry over her broken heart, to scream at that hellish creature staring at her next to Marcus's dead body. For a split second Trixie is all she can think about. It is natural for her, when she comes that close to death. Only this time it is not "Will I see my daughter again?" It's "I let _that_ come near my daughter. I failed her." She stumbles again, forgetting about the staircase behind her. The creature very slowly raises its hand, not even that high, to inspect it, and seeing its true form, also makes a very deliberate step away from Chloe. There is a small shiver, which Chloe registers.

 _It moves. God, please, don't move, just don't even move. Freeze. Don't. I can't. I can't deal with anything else in the world changing right now._

She desperately needs the whole world to freeze for a few days, nothing changing, nothing moving. Just giving her time to attempt to comprehend what the Hell she is seeing. Unfortunately, this is LA, where such wishes are hardly granted.

– LAPD! – screams Dan somewhere in the distance. – Chloe, are you all right?!

There are footsteps echoing through the building, fast approaching.

– Chloe! – echoes Ella, frantically. – Lucifer!

She does not move, praying the world would just stop. The creature, it appears, moved further away from her. _Why won't it just stay still! Is that too much to ask?! Don't._ There is a very small part of her that she's carefully blocking out, that has a bad feeling about that thing crawling away – and, God, are those really bloodied feathers on the floor?! _Is it.. he.. injured?! Can it be injured?_

– Detective… I'm sorry. – says Lucifer's voice somewhere in the distance, and she cannot ignore the fact that it's the devilish creature's blistered lips moving in sync with those words. The voice hasn't changed even the slightest bit, and that is what finally shatters the already broken pieces of her heart. It's his voice, though hardly more than a desperate whisper.

Of course, this is the exact moment Dan runs in, gasps, and immediately points gun at the creature.

– Get away from her, you bastard, whatever you are!

– Douche. – Satan acknowledges with a small huff, but Dan is having none of it.

– Chloe! Did he hurt you?! Did it .. – he sees Marcus on the floor. - What in God's name happen here?!

The gun is shaking in his hand enough that trigger can go at any point.

– I'd not move a finger in His name, - quips Lucifer. - You may know by now.

Chloe closes her eyes for a second, trying even harder to not deal with anything. She can't. The man she almost married, the man she thought she loved, is lying dead on the floor. He also happens to be Cain, the world's first murderer. Whom she almost married. And, worse, whom she let near her daughter. And that's not even the worst of it.

Sirens are wailing in the distance, approaching.

– Are you all insane? – finally joins Ella, and she walks right between them all. – Daniel Idiot Espinoza, you lower that gun this second and take care of Chloe.

She looks in the direction of the creature, visibly shudders, then takes one deep breath in and approaches Lucifer with a look spelling "WHATEVER" loud and clear all over her face.

– We need to get you out of here. Can you walk?

– Get away from him! – cries Daniel, whom she ignores. Chloe is still in state of shock, unable to process the reality.

Lucifer looks at the new ally in complete disbelief.

– Why?

– Why what! – hisses Ella. – Why do we need to get you out? Cops are coming, and not everyone will be as happy to see you as we are!

– No, Miss Lopez, - he manages, voice still quiet, words barely audible. – Why are you not pointing your gun at me, as customary?

– I've seen ghosts since I was a kid, - she says simply. – You're a much smaller leap of faith for me. Now come ON, time to move!

– Feathers.. – he begins.

– Oh, I'll swap them later. - Ella actually smiles and almost looks like she's about to give Satan a Lopez hug regardless. – Evidence will go through me, remember?

He gives Chloe one more look, giving in to selfish, arrogant desire to see her, just to see her one more time before stepping out of her life forever. One last time. A small torn part of himself is begging the rest of him to stay, to ask for forgiveness again, and again, to at least ensure she's not broken, that she'll survive… The rest of him is in control, however, and he allows himself to be dragged out the back door.

That's how Chloe remembers her partner: a hellish creature, blood, blisters, burning eyes. How the Hell he manages to look like an abandoned puppy she has just kicked, she does not know. That's not what she meant, either, but saying anything, even as much as moving a finger is just too much effort. Not worth it. Would the world, please, just stop, she begs quietly, and, with great focus, the wall between her and the rest of the world, muffling every sound, grows stronger and stronger. By the time LAPD arrives at the scene, she's not responding to anything.


	2. Common sense, courtesy of Beatrix Decker

"Mommy!"

If there was one thing that could snap her out of stupor, it would be the voice of her daughter. Crying, desperate. Did someone hurt Trixie?! Chloe jerks awake, and on pure instinct reaches for her daughter and grabs her in a tight hug, taking in the surroundings. White walls, voices in the hallway, medical machinery beeping... It's a hospital, not even an ICU unit.

"Hey, Monkey." She hugs her daughter tighter. "Are you all right?"

Her brave girl makes a few sobs, holding on for dear life, and quickly starts wiggling to look her in the eyes. "It's not **me** who's in the hospital, Mommy! I was **so worried**!"

Another sob, a quieter one. Seeing that her mom is here and present, Trixie wipes her red eyes with a small fist (looks like she's out of tears), and manages a small smile. "Are you here-here, Mommy? I called and you did not answer! And I called again! And you were just lying there!"

"I'm sorry", Chloe says with passion. "How long was I out? What ha..."

She stops. Her brain has wired itself back up and knows exactly what happened.

Trixie quickly goes pale and waves a jerky hand in front of her. "Mommy, not again, **please**!"

Chloe takes in a couple of really good deep breaths, focusing on her dear child, and making sure she's not slipping away. Trixie needs here here and present, and that's the end of the story. No excuses. No timeouts. Being a mom is not something you can put on hold.

She manages a a really nice, long breath out. "Hey, sorry. I'm here. I won't leave you, baby, I promise. Speaking of... you were not here by yourself, were you?"

"Daddy's here", Trixies smiles. "Someone stopped him in the hallway, and I ran to see you! And you woke up! Mommy, were you in a coma? Are you better?"

"Yes, I am", Chloe says eagerly, even though she's not sure it's the full truth. "Just fainted, probably."

"Mommy..." bright eyes look at her with some well-deserved reproach. "Remember how we don't have to hide when we're sad, right?"

"Oh, Monkey", Chloe sighs. "I'm not sure. Say I learned something bad about someone".

She pauses. "Multiple someones, actually".

"Oh", Trixie sighs as well. "Can you tell me about it? You said when I'm said I can talk to you about it, right? And I really want to know, what happened!"

Chloe pauses, trying to figure out how to frame it for her child. Since she almost married Marcus (she can't call him Cain in her mind just yet) and introduced her to Trixie, she'll have to tell her daughter there won't be any more chocolate cake coming from that direction. Ever. And that's a more sane place to start processing things, anyway.

"Well, remember that guy that brought us chocolate cake?" she says. "Marcus."

"He's weird", Trixie says firmly. "But OK. Is he in trouble?"

 _Yes. With God, first. And then with a whole bunch of criminals..._

"He was a bad cop", Chloe asserts. That much is true. "He had connections with criminals. We learned about it and he went missing. He is a dangerous person and I've let him near you, and for that I'm really, really sorry!" With that, she hugs her daughter again and flinches from a chest bruise.

"Did he hurt you?" worries Trixie. Her Mom did land in a hospital, after all! "Or are you really sad because you thought he was a good cop?"

"He..." _pointed the gun at me, but there is no need to worry Trix._ "I just have a bruise, Monkey, nothing serious. He was hurt more. But he won't hurt anyone anymore, I promise."

"OK." - Trixies says. She pauses. "Who's the other someone?"

The elephant in the room that wears Prada is now once again on top of Chloe's thoughts. She's not ready to tell her daughter that Lucifer is real, and...

 _God._

 _Maze._

Maze is a demon indeed.

 _A demon babysat my daughter on multiple occasions. And taught her to fight. And took her trick-or-treating._

Chloe giggles, then realizes she's still trying to avoid thinking about the elephant. Her vivid imagination immediately tries to put a trunk on Prada-clad Lucifer, and does not fail. She giggles again, pauses, recognizing a fast approaching hysterical breakdown, and starts breathing again, while rocking Trixie side to side. She sees Dan approaching in the hallway - his honest face lights up in relief, and she mimics "five more min", glancing at their amazing daughter. Dan nods.

"Say, I learned someone is really dangerous." Chloe begins. She has to explain to Trixie that the chocolate cake supply lines are drying up around the Decker household. No more late-night Monopoly either. That realization comes with a painful tug somewhere in her chest, worse than she'd like to admit.

"Like, your-job-dangerous?" Trixie asks.

Chloe pauses. That is actually a very good question. She can be killed in the line of duty almost any day. Her job is dangerous. Lucifer can probably end the Earth on any given day. Or drag anyone to Hell. Literally. Or make them go insane - just looking at that charred face long enough could do the trick.

However. Does he endanger her by being near? Has be pointed a gun at her at any point? (Something that Cain did. Cain - 0. Lucifer - 1.) She grudgingly admits that no, the Devil has never expressed any desire to harm her or Trixie. Quite the opposite, if anything, he appeared fond of the "spawn". He can just.. what can he do? She needs to figure that out.

Suddenly she remembers the abandoned puppy look. No, that still did not look like someone that would point a gun at her.

"Not like that", she admits. "Just like, say, you did not know, but, say, a friend in school comes from a family that owns guns and thinks it's a good idea to teach kids to shoot from an early age. And you did not know that about them!"

"But Mommy, you can shoot! And you do it to protect us all!" Trixie protests. "And Maze has been teaching me how to protect myself!"

All right, no peace-loving hippies here. Point taken. And, honestly, both Maze and Lucifer have mostly used their skills - that weird "desire" mojo thing that Devil does - for good.

"Yeah", Chloe says. "But, say, they have a really, really big gun at home. It's the size that scared me. And that I did not know about it."

"Is Lucifer in a lot of trouble?" Trixie asks in a small voice.

Chloe almost jumps. "Why would you think it's him?!"

"You would not get as upset over someone you are not friends with." Her daughter is honestly smart way passed her age. Chloe is almost saddened by that.

With that, five minutes are up and Dan walks into the room and hugs his family. Yeah, they are divorced, but they are still a family. And God knows (literally) they've been through a lot today. Chloe eyes Dan, very quickly signalling "Are you OK?" and he vaguely nods. He's processing the same news, however, he quietly whispers "Charlotte", looks up and manages a small sad smile. Guess she truly is in Heaven.

Her head starts spinning again. That is honestly too much.

"Hey, gang", she says, hugging them back. - "Let's all go home."

* * *

Chapter notes: common sense, courtesy of Beatrice Decker.

1) Feedback is LOVE, and I'm honestly overwhelmed, thank you guys so much! I have this whole thing planned in my head going to weird places, but I would not have continued, probably, otherwise. I'm completely not used to getting feedback ever in my native language.. this is weird and not deserved and, seriously, I love you all!

2) Mandatory apologies! Sorry, I'm a noob at , and also haven't written anything in English in a decade. Please, correct my grammar and punctuation as you see fit, that's how it will get better! Did I get the quotes right?

3) This whole thing is Chloe's POV so we'll be spared some of the angsty Lucifer for now. Also I don't like avoidance and dancing around, so next chapter come Chloe's done with it and marches on!

4) Also, HOORAY Lucifer is SAVED. Cheers!


	3. The dreaded mother of all texts

The rest of the evening is one blissful domestic whirlwind. They do a Taco Thursday, and argue about who's tacos are the best. They play Uno and Dixit. Both Dan and Chloe cherish the time they spend with their daughter, much more so now that they know how fragile their world is. By the end of the evening, Trixie puts up a good fight about not going to bed: she knows tomorrow will not be the same, and with all of her heart wants to stay _in today_ as long as she can: just one more bite, one more eternity of today would be nice. Finally, all hugs are given, bedtime story is read five times over, all goodnight kisses are done and she's out like a light, with an adorable tiny snore. Dan and Chloe argue for a little bit, whose side of the family the snore comes from, and then mutually agree that Dan should stay overnight. They don't talk about what they have seen: Dan has taken the hint about Chloe still processing, Chloe quietly notices how her ex-husband keeps looking up with the same sad smile. Dan has seen justice served today, and that helps.

Chloe is adamant she won't be able to fall asleep. She is so sure of it that the next moment she looks up it is 5 AM. She feels like a proud polar bear mid-spring: hungry and ready for the next day.

 _He is going to run away._

The thought hits her like a train. There is definitely relief in it, the same shameful relief of _not dealing with it_. There's pain. And there is finality. No more questions to ask, no more horrendous insensitive remarks intimidating the witnesses, no more smoking the evidence. Lucifer is going to run away for good, _if he has not already_. Further than she'd ever be able to follow.

She can't even tell why she's so sure, but whoever else he may be, he was her partner for a bit. She knows that's how her partner would react. That impossible self-centered king of denial would run away and duck his head in the sand and sulk. A lot.

And he may be already too far.

Without even thinking about what the Hell she's doing texting Satan, she picks up the phone and types.

" **Are you going to run away?"**

With a small chime, the message is sent.

It's 5 AM, her phone is still in a "do not disturb mode" (after a whole night of series of emoji messages from Lucifer she has learned to turn that mode on the hard way), but it vibrates the next second.

" **Yes."** The response is uncharacteristically laconic.

" **No."** she types furiously and hits send.

Silence.

No response.

A whole two minutes of no response, and she's had it.

" **Don't you dare".**

A Lucifer who's not texting back is a Lucifer in deep trouble indeed. Five more minutes and Chloe is now positively fuming.

" **Are you there?!"**

The exclamation mark somehow sneaked into the text message without her paying attention. She forgot to delete it. She meant to.

" **Yes."**

"You will not run away until we talk", she types. Deletes the whole thing, rolls eyes and tries to figure out how to say it shorter.

Ah, to Hell with it, here comes the dreaded mother or all texts.

" **We need to talk."** Sent. No response. She poured herself a nice cup of coffee and made a PB&J sandwich, forcing herself to look away from the phone.

Another five minutes have gone by and she's literally fed up with the silent treatment. Nobody in the history of texting has ever gotten away from the this one, and Lucifer is not about to become the first one.

" **You still in Lux?"**

" **Yes."**

When he replies, it's nearly instantaneous, as if he is also not looking away from his phone for a second.

Dan is still sleeping. So is Trix. She's about to make probably the biggest mistake of her life ( _beyond almost marrying Cain, God!)_ , but that bastard will run away.

" **I'm coming. Stay there".**

Sent.

Silence.

" **You owe me that much".**

Silence.

She grabs the car keys, leaving the coffee mug in the kitchen sink and heads out. This early in the morning, it's still chilly outside, but it's not the weather she's shivering from.

The cold shoulder is definitely getting on her nerves. As if she was the one keeping secrets in their partnership! As if she was the one… as if she was someone to him.

She wanted to be someone to him.

 _How could you be someone to someone millenia old? That's one Hell of an age gap. Literally._

She looks up and hits the breaks, almost racing a red light. Ok, another look at the cell phone. No reply. Bloody bastard better be there when she comes. And the door better be open!  
Anger is good. Anger is really good, it keeps fear at bay.

" **That door better be open."**

She jumps and nearly ventures into another lane when her phone buzzes.

" **Don't text while driving."**

That bastard. Well, at least it is not a one syllable response. He also has a point, as much as she hates to admit. She reminds herself of speed limit, even though the fear coursing through her veins instead of blood is begging to floor the gas pedal, to go 100 mph and faster, as if she could run away from it all herself.

By the time she parks near Lux, she's not sure how to walk.

By the time she's in the elevator, she's positive she'll faint.

By the time the elevator door opens…

It's dark in his apartment. No lights are on. She steps in, holding on to a wall, and blinks a few times, adjusting, before she can make out a figure sitting at the piano. His hands are on the keyboard, but he is not playing.

The Devil himself.

"Hey…" she says.

Suddenly she feels very small. Yelling at him (well, text-yelling), forcing her way here, even demanding whatever answers to whatever questions she may have. She feels like an ant compared to a being, that's been around for millenia. Ever since the creation of Earth and quiet possibly a while before that.

"Detective", Lucifer acknowledges.

And with that a small warm something tries to bloom in her chest. She missed it.

She hits the lights to lowest setting, walks up to the piano and takes another good look at the man.

"Were you wounded?" The question surprises her as much as it surprises him, but turns out she was worried after all. The suppressed memory of bloody feathers on the floor, shining bright white light, comes back to surface, and she blinks.

"Yes", he admits. He's still not moving. He's still preferring one-word replies. It reeks of **wrong**. Everything is wrong. Moreover, he does not appear to be interested in fixing whatever it is that is wrong.

"How long does it take to heal?"

He shrugs. No answer. She expected some banter, but, clearly, he's not in the mood.

It's beyond wrong. It's she who's supposed to be afraid! Speaking of which… let no one say Chloe Decker was a coward.

"Show me your.. other face".

"Absolutely not." - Lucifer looks positively mortified.

"Are you afraid?"

And that actually gets a response.

"Why would I be afraid, Detective? Seeing me as I am only left you barely catatonic last time." His voice is soft, and kind, and full of complete defeat. And somehow it gives her hope.

"Hey.." she says again, and sits next to him. He visibly stiffens. - "Show me."

"Detective, please". He is truly begging now. "Allow me to not do any more damage, I've done **enough!** " That last word hits like a desperate cry.

"Show me". Now that sounds like an order. She doesn't know if it's cruelty or compassion speaking; there is something thrilling about how quiet and obedient he is. She hasn't seen Lucifer do _obedient_ and she is getting a shameless high off it. She means no harm, he is a celestial immortal being, and he has been obeying her despite his wishes. That is enough to feel slightly drunk...

He gulps and the next second the hellish creature is back.

This time around, even knowing what to expect, she still almost jumps. Glowing red eyes look in the direction of the elevator with deep longing, but the creature - Lucifer - stays still and instead looks directly at his own hands. _Drunk on obedience,_ mindlessly, she reaches out and very slowly traces one of the rifts with a single finger. The skin is not appalling to touch. It is rough, but there is no ooze, just more heat radiating from cracks. It is rough and has more texture than human's, weirdly so, but is warm and…

Chloe realizes she's been caressing the hand for a bit, and notices that while this one is still, the other hand is clenched in a fist.

"Sorry", she says, taking her fingers back, "does it hurt?"

"No." The answer is even quieter. Lucifer is looking at her fingers.

Well, if it doesn't hurt, there is no harm, right? She touches the hand again, now taking it with her own two hands, and continues to trace the intricate landscape of veins and old scars. She's honestly torn between remembering that one Hell of an age gap and own insignificance, and somehow feeling in complete control. His ragged breathing is a bonus.

She looks up from the hand, still toying with it.

"Lucifer".

He tilts his head, in a "yeah, it's me" kind of way. The red face manages to look like he's admitting he stole the last cookie from the cookie jar.

"Is that your real face?"

He actually blinks a couple of times. "Can you.. Repeat the question, Detective?"  
Delicate fingers makes a few more small circles around the dark red knuckles. She cannot imagine letting go, not when he's so visibly distracted by the fact that she's still there and still cares. And, oh, God, care she does. Under the burned skin facade there's one desperate idiot who thinks he's not worthy of human touch and human gentleness - and she finds it hard to concentrate on questions herself, as opposed to caressing, and taking away his pain, and taming said idiot to her touch and care.

"Did you sleep tonight?" she asks instead.

"No" he says, slightly indignified.

"Do you need sleep?" She vaguely remembers how he tried to go without sleeping for a while, and believe that did not end well.

"Not as much as humans do", he says carefully.

"Riiight", she rolls eyes. "Then let's cut the chase."

" _Don't ask the question if you are not ready to hear the answer"_ , little voice in her head says. Another one goes " _Who do you think you are to think he'd care"_. There is a cacophony of them and they really need to all shut up once and for all, so she just dumps it on the Devil, trying to not sound like her daughter asking a neighbor to be friends.

"Do you still want to be my partner?"

"Yes" he breathes out desperately, before catching himself. "However, I do not wish to endanger you any further, Detective, so logically we should.."

"Oh, shut up already", Chloe says carelessly and puts her head on his shoulder. It's 6 AM. He is the Devil. And his hand is still in hers. And he wants to continue their weird partnership. She looks at the keys. "I still have a million questions, and am still angry you left me in the dark for so long, but quit with that endangering Detective act. I'm an LA cop, my life's in danger every day anyway."

She yawns. Maybe the polar bear that she was this morning has mistaken one bright January morning for spring. Maybe it's the fact that she's in his lair, and insignificant, and everything is real, and it is too much.

"Would you play for me?" Chloe asks.

"Very well then", Lucifer says, composing himself. There is a hint of regret in his voice, as he adds, "I shall need both hands".

She lets go and closes her eyes for a few moments, as Moonlight Sonata fills the air, quiet melody slowly flowing from under burned hands of a fallen angel.

* * *

Chapter notes: There. All mended. Becasuse a *cough* professional partnership *cough* is what it is. Right?


	4. A misconjugated verb

The last waves of beautiful soft C# minor arpeggio are softly fading one into another. Lucifer has switched to his usual appearance midway through the musical piece - Chloe does not see his face, but she has been watching the pianist's hands calling forth the high and low tides of the timeless sonata.

"I should get going" she says with some remorse. Though to be honest, it is still extremely uncomfortable to be in his presence, with all of the uncertainty and questions and anger, and weirdness of it all. However, she's planning on being systematic about the questions asked, even if she wants to scream on top of her lungs and throw things at him for reasons she can't formulate herself. Things will be thrown, perhaps. All in the due time.

"Of course, Detective". A polite nod accompanies that. He rises first and, as usual, offers her a hand, then makes a small chuckle to himself and removes it before she can react. "Apologies. You'd rather not, I believe".

She stands up.

"I'd rather not have to explain to Dan where I was this morning". Chloe rubs her head in annoyance. "He's gonna start giving me advice. Again!"

She walks to the elevator, then turns back.

"I'll see you at the precinct then?" She pauses. "Oh, wait. You do always tell the truth?"

"Finally", he proclaims with a smug expression that does not reach his eyes. "Finally you are coming around! Yes, Detective. Always."

"So maybe you should not be there when Marcus's death is investigated? You'd just admit to killing him."

"When do people ever believe me, Detective". That smirk, once again, is typical Lucifer, yet there is something hollow about it. "You will see me at the precinct if you want, and you shall not see me if you would rather not."

"Then I'll meet you there", Chloe confirms. "Still partners?"

"Still partners."

Ding. Elevator is going down.

She manages to get home on time right when Trixie and Dan are getting ready for breakfast, and claims to have gone to buy some fresh milk (she actually noticed they were low on milk and legitimately bought it). Dan would throw a tantrum about her seeing Lucifer after this. Come to think of it, he still might throw one at the precinct, but probably not in public. So she asks him to drop Trixie off at school and heads to work first, trying to beat him there and figure out a way to avoid the showdown.

The first one to meet her there is a cheerful Ella, who gives her one hell of a Lopez hug, looks at her seriously and then jumps right into business.

"Can you believe it?! I am getting away with a "pillow fight gone wrong" on a police report and nobody has even noticed! I mean, yes, it is buried there in one of the appendixes, since who would ever care about some feathers, when there were historical masterpieces of art stored in that complex! I cannot believe the size of the operation Pierce was running! Should I call him Sinnerman? We have enough proof now to tie him to Sinnerman officially; camera feed from that place is like a treasure trove!"

She looks at Chloe again and pauses. "Sorry. How are you dealing with it all, girl? Should you even be here? You know, almost marrying him, conflict of interest and all that? Especially given everything else.."

Everything else walks in at about that time, all smiles, smug and clad in an impeccable suit. Ella makes a small squeaking noise and looks all too happy to abandon Chloe to her inevitable fate, but Chloe does her best quiet mimicking " **DONT** " and grabs Ella by hand.

"So", Chloe continues, overly enthusiastic. "Can you tell us more about what you have found there in the mansion?"

"Well", Ella pauses. "Looks like we got the bulk of his collection. However, looks like he was dealing with not only art objects, but also religious artifacts. Here, on one of the bookkeeping apps", she waves the rest of the gang to follow her to a computer, "he was obviously interested in anything supernatural. Shipment of Lance of Longinus was meant to come next week. Church grim's leash was in transit to another location. And so forth. I assume all fakes", she looks up at Lucifer like someone hoping to keep her sanity. "Right?"

"Not necessarily, I am afraid, Miss Lopez", he answers swiftly. "I would appreciate looking through this collection and the list. Actually, send it to Maze. Hunting down illegal divinity artifacts does not pay as well as hunting humans, but there are items humanity was never meant to possess."

"Um, yes", Ella says. "But that's not even the end of it! See, as Sinnerman he's been fighting over territory with other organizations. Did you know he busted a child trafficking ring right after moving to LA? We did not even know it existed! And he used his crime organization to wipe it out."

Chloe is unsure what to make of it. "So, now you're telling me he was not all bad?"

"Oh, he **was** bad", Lucifer cheerfully interrupts. And that's when things blow up.

"And you!" - an accusatory finger lands squarely in the Devil's face. - "You knew the truth about Pierce and **let me almost marry him**!"

Most of the heads in the precinct are turning her way, when she recognizes that this bit of information was previously unknown to her coworkers. Neither she, nor Pierce liked to make their private life known.

"And it's none of anybody's business!" she adds loudly, alas, in vain. The heads do not appear to be turning back.

"And that is precisely why you are announcing it to the world, Detective", Lucifer smoothly puts salt on the fresh wound with genuine amusement of a five-year-old. However, he does not get to continue. Dan barges in and, seeing Lucifer, all but jumps at him.

"You. Get out of our lives!"

"Is that what she told you when you were getting divorced", Lucifer asks lazily, all but showing he has all the time in the world to pick a grievance.

Ella, the last grown-up standing in this mess, is shoveling all of them to a nearest interrogation room before the scandal escalates into a full-blown fight. "Herding cats!", she hisses.

"Chloe", Dan begs, even as he is being pushed into the room with the rest of them. "Just think of Trixie, if you don't care for yourself! You have a duty of care to her, how could you let **him** into her life!"  
"She knows I would do everything in my power and beyond to protect well-being of her spawn", Lucifer suggests calmly, all but ready to blow up right under the thin veil of calm.

"He is the Devil! The Father of all lies! Ghh…"

Dan does not get to continue his monologue. It is virtually impossible to speak when you are being held up by the throat. Lucifer's eyes are two mad fiery empty holes into Hell, and he is speaking slowly and clearly.

" **I. Do. Not. Lie.** " he says. After all, that is the only thing that he has going for himself, having lost his home, his sibs, his everything, even his Detective, surely. That remains the only constant left in his life. He actually makes a smirk and elaborates on that statement this time around, knowing they would listen.

"I was party to the Creation", he begins with due gravity, ignoring choking noises Dan is making. "In the beginning, there was word, Daniel, do they still teach it in schools?" Chloe is slamming his hand, but it does not matter, because he will get his say. "And that word… Well. It's a long story. But in the beginning word was Creation. A misconjugated verb would make an entire species end up with six tails, all bleeding through to another dimension."

He pauses, remembering, and finally throws a half-passed-out Dan down. "Though in your case, it would constitute a drastic improvement overall. Douche."

He does not care to look up in the direction of Chloe: seeing her disdain would be too much. Perhaps, she just needed another reminder that he is the Devil. Perhaps, nearly suffocating her ex actually crossed the line.

He turns on his heels and walks out.

* * *

Chapter notes: well.. who am I kidding, this is officially back "in progress" now. Also, the ratings may go up to M at some point (some potentially blasphemous plot bunnies coming up), so you've been warned. Comments, faves and subscriptions all make me write faster (though not necessarily better), so if you are curious about said bunnies, holler me a "go, girl!" -)


	5. Buyers remorse

*cough* Ratings may have changed. *cough* Also some bad language. Enjoy.

* * *

"That went well", Chloe quips after some uncomfortable silence. "How about we, Daniel, **shut up** and figure out what to do about Cain, er, Pierce's legacy and **get the effing job done**. Heaven and Hell can wait, but his criminal network is hiding their collective asses right now."

"Not only that", Ella adds. "There are, um, artifacts in transit that need to be taken out of rotation. Oh, what would I do to get my hands - and equipemnt - on those…"

"Did you analyze his blood?" asks Chloe.

"Lucifer's turning out inconclusive - he does not even have a blood type", Ella looks back at Daniel, as he walks out. "Ugh… Give him time, he'll come around. Pierce, however…. Do you even realize I now have an insight into DNA of **first humans**? I'm so keeping a sample stashed." She giggles, despite herself. "I mean, I'm still very sorry. But.. First humans!"

"You do you", Chloe says. "I'll get started on those recordings".

She looks at them dutifully, with a pang in her heart still where here supposingly dead feelings for Marcus would be. It is mostly either men with guns or movers with relics; often both. A couple of hours into research, and she has those playing on one screen, as she's trying to read through the reports at the same time, when a familiar face catches her attention.

"Bree!", she remembers. "What's she doing there?"

Then she pauses, trying to remember the woman. PTSD, that's what Cain and Lucifer happily told her in unison then. However, "my flock is your flock" and "your offspring's offspring" sounds rather.. Biblical? Bible-speak? She thinks to call Lucifer, having a perfect excuse of a current case, but on a second thought heads to LUX herself. Things are better said in person between them now.

The club is empty, so she heads into the elevator, and, of course, there he is, on the balcony, enjoying the view, or, rather, lost in his though.

"Detective!" he seems slightly surprised. "Why would you be here?"

"Who was Bree", Chloe says. It is not so much a question, as it is a statement: she was someone, wasn't she.

He looks slightly taken aback. "Oh. It is business, not pleasure, then, that brings you here. Well, don't let me keep you too long. That was Abel."

Seeing her gasping for air, he summarizes the whole story with cheerful glee of someone telling the truth and fully expecting to not be believed. "Back when both me and Cain were trying to get him to kick the bucket, we though bringing Abel back and recreating the whole first murder the other way around would do it. So I popped in Hell and kicked his sorrow ass all the way up here back into a body, whose occupant has passed on. There. Didn't help, though. And then he got hit by a car and died a day later, so probably brothers are saying hello to each other in Hell now."

"She is not dead", Chloe says. "And she was in Cain's lair yesterday."

"Perfectly good reason to be there, don't you think? Some brotherly love. And it's a "he" now, Detective, do keep on."

Chloe rolls her eyes. "I guess you are right, Abel would be a "he". All this talk about flock and procreation… PTSD, my ass. So, Bree, the brave girl who exposed the drug lords money laundering, truly died then?"

"She likely ended up in Heaven", Lucifer shrugs. "And you still saved a.. Well, no longer an innocent, although he was innocent in that particular case".

Chloe pauses. "Still, something to follow-up on. If the brothers reconcile their differences, we could have another Sinnerman on our hands soon. Ugh. You almost let me marry the world's first murderer!"

Apparently she just can't get passed this point.

"Well, what was I supposed to do?!" Lucifer shoots back angrily. "Tell you hey, guess what, he's Cain? You'd think I was jealous!"

"Were you?" Chloe asks before she can fully register.

"Doesn't matter! Detective, **you** wanted it, you thought he could make you happy, who am I to intervene? You deserved happy."

"With a murderer?" she steps forward with an angry glare. Lucifer is staring her down just as angrily.

"He loved you, you know!"

"He shot me! I cannot believe you are justifying him postmortem!" she almost spits out "..after you killed him!" but manages to bite her lip. Which draws his attention.

"Oh, Detective…" he sighs, lowering his gaze. "He's been around. Also knew you fairly well. He knew you had a vest, and was trying to get you out of way, not dead. He did ask about you, you know. Dying. Asked if you were all right."

"That is not making me feel any better." She is now holding back tears. First Marcus shoots her. Then Ella confirms he was a corrupt cop vigilante crime lord. Then this. Stupid Marcus, why the fuck did he have to die.

She slips down and sits, back to the balcony glass. "And now he's going to spend an eternity in Hell for being a caveman, who did not know better? It is not fair…."

"No, Detective, it is not fair."

There is a warm jacket placed on her shoulders. She hiccups, realizing the tears are already streaming down her face.

"Do you love him?" Lucifer asks. "Cause I could drag him out of Hell personally and beat him up right here. Right now. If that would help".

"No", she says. "And no." A smallest smile appears on her lips. "The offer is appreciated, though. Thank you. But… he lied to me. And shot me. I can't go back, not after this."

"He got buyers remorse like no other", Lucifer ponders. "He's been immortal for millennia, until all of a sudden he was not. I know the feeling."

She makes a mental note to discuss that part later. Marcus Pierce and buyers remorse, my ass… Still. "He did not deserve eternal Hell."  
"Would you be able to tell that to Detective Douche?"

They sit in silence, that somehow grows more comfortable - Lucifer sitting next to her, still subdued. It's funny, but once she gets into arguing with her partner, she almost forgets the whole devil thing, and can still yell at him like there's no tomorrow. She glances sideways, to find him studying her with gentle kindness in his eyes.

"You want to save everyone, don't you, Detective?"

She nods quietly. That sounds about right. "Most of them. He… saved kids. That's gotta count for something."

"Well", he gives a crooked smirk. "Feel free to yell at Dad."

For some reason that sounds almost like "join my family" and upon trying to imagine a God-in-law, Chloe bursts into giggles and absolutely refuses to tell Lucifer what she's laughing about.

She leaves shortly thereafter to collect Trixie from school. Her head is still full of Marcus, a lot more so now, with Lucifer riding to the defense of the man he killed. She makes pasta for dinner, and give in to buying chocolate cake, and really does not want to go to bed, expecting nightmares.

Yet they do not come. She dreams of something light, immaterial, and then there is a man, laughing, singing his heart and soul out, and obeying his words, the sky lights up with stars; whole galaxies of them, drops of clusters appearing here and there, across the Milky Way. The joy of existence, the joy of untainted matter of the time of creation is vivid, and the winged man slowly dances, as he continues to sing the starts out, and they sprout all across the skies. She cannot make the words, even though the song of Creation seems more familiar than any song she has heard before. Untainted, unrestrained, beautiful is the winged Samael, he, who brought the Light.

She wakes up at dawn, not sure, what caused her to be awake at this hour… until she turns and realizes the discomfort. Ah. _That._ Apparently her body decided the best thing to get over everything that happened would be a good dose of endorphins and some R&R.

She rolls over, tries to fall back asleep on her side, all to no avail. Her thoughts keep coming back to man in her dreams - who, she realizes, was completely naked (and why would he be dressed anyway?) and discomfort only grows stronger.

Which is completely inappropriate, but she really wants to sleep, so she gives in. It has been too long, and she deserves a break, and…

Her fingers are already mindlessly working their magic.

She lazily tries to think of something, some small fantasy to hurry things up, but keeps thinking of _Samael_. Ugh. Inappropriate. She blushes hard, wondering, what Lucifer would say, and, of course, the next moment her mind pictures him with perfect clarity.

" _Naughty, Detective", he winks._

By the way, she did not just push harder. Nope. Not happening.

Bastard, she thinks. Her eyes are closed, and her stupid mind is still imagining Lucifer. Who is still all but mocking her. Why can't he just pretend to be a good, useful fantasy, and, um, make himself useful, she does not know. But in her mind he's just standing there.

Looking.

Refusing to even touch her.

All while staring her down with hungry eyes.

She spreads her legs further open, trying harder to finish off what she started. She's thoroughly wet, aroused, and her orgasm could well be on a picnic in Serbia - so far off... " _Why won't you cooperate?"_

She is asking her body, but her fantasy takes a life of its own.

" _I would not take advantage of you, Detective_ ," he says.

It's the "Detective" part. She bites her lip again, adding a third finger - and it feels good, but she needs more, more substance, more.. Something.

" _This is not advantage!"_ \- she yells mentally in her fantasy. - " _I need it. Lucifer, please!"_

It's when he hears "please" that his eyes start glowing and he makes a step forward.

And, God help her (or not, on the second thought, nevermind God, wrong deity, yes), just watching him approach, looking feral, hungry, almost furious… Chloe bites back a moan and properly pounds herself. She has to be quiet (she is a Mom, after all), but mentally she's crying and trying to grab her uncollaborative partner's hands and direct them where they should go. Her fingers are at work hard, mercilessly driving into the weeping mess of a swamp between her legs.

He still won't cooperate, bloody bastard. And somehow, panting, dripping, she's unable to come until he does something. So she begs. And cries. A lot. He's just standing next to her, looking at her, avoiding touching her where she craves to be touched, and she's lost without him.

" _Lucifer_ ", she cries (dignity can go to Hell and come back later, she's too fucking turned on now to care). " _Please. If you won't touch me.. Just.. be with me. Please._ "

The gazes lock and she does not let go.

She - so wrong, so horribly wrong, yet it pushes her closer to the brink of her elusive orgasm to admit it - wants to come for him to see. Spread out, shameless, lost in his hungry golden eyes, finally letting go… Fucking herself right in front of him.

" _Why won't you…"_

He leans closer in and whispers into her ear. " _Not because I would not want to…_ "

And that is enough to push her over the edge.

Fuck, she thinks a couple minutes later, when her body slowly stops feeling weightless. It's getting harder and harder to pretend that she is not utterly and completely screwed. Still, she gives it her best effort and spends an entire weekend doing her best to forget this incident ever happened.

And then, of course, on Monday morning, Lucifer walks in into the precinct with a smile so smug she wants to smack him with her report before he even opens his mouth.

"In the interest of full disclosure, Detective.." he begins, and some unmentionable parts of her body respond to "Detective" in a way they really should not be responding. "I may be a fallen angel, but still an angel. I do hear prayers directed at me."

He pauses just for a brief second for the dramatic effect.

"And that was one Hell of a prayer."


End file.
